Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

My family has been under the weather this past week.  You know, it's one thing for me to feel yucky, it's a real bummer to see my kids and husband feeling low.  I wanted to make them feel better, give them something soothing, warm, creamy and full of goodness.  So, I made chicken noodle soup!

I didn't have a particular winning recipe to work from, so I read through a couple of cookbooks to get the rhythm of making a creamy soup.  The Barefoot Contessa had a show using the 40 cloves of garlic chicken recipe that gave me the basics for thickening the broth.  Once I was in the kitchen, I went off on my own and came out with a delicious creamy noodle soup.

Just so you know, there was shredded roasted chicken in my freezer, leftover from baking last week.  The roasted garlic was leftover from the Roasted Garlic post I wrote the other day.  I usually have some type of noodle or pasta waiting in my pantry for such occasions and the rest of the ingredients just happen to be on hand.

HERE'S WHAT I HAD TO WORK WITH

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 2 cloves of roasted garlic, minced
• 1 (32 oz.) carton of chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 2 1/2 cups roasted chicken, shredded
• 2 1/2 cups dumpling noodles
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup half-n-half or whole milk

In the soup pot, add butter, onions and carrots, pinch of salt, on medium high heat.  Cook until carrots are tender.  Add in garlic, broth, water, poultry seasoning, chicken, heat until boiling then add noodles.  Cook noodles the amount of time specified on package.

Ladle out 1/2 cup broth into small bowl and blend in flour until smooth, no lumps.  Add back into soup pot and cook for 3-5  minutes. Remove from heat and slowly stir in milk. 

Serve with warm French bread.  (This is very good the next day, too.)

I certainly hope your family stays well through out this holiday season.  Don't wait until they're feeling low to try this recipe.  Make a pot of it for the weekend, and enjoy being a kid again eating chicken noodle soup!